As
much as I have loved living in Europe and having a grand adventure away from
home, being with old friends is still one of the most comfortable feelings I
know. Luckily, I have the good fortune
of living in a foreign country with one of my college roommates, Katherine, who
is also working as an English teacher in Madrid. I didn’t have to work on October 31 and November
1 because of a Spanish national holiday, so I packed my bags and went to the
big city to see her for Halloween weekend!
Madrid,
along with being an autonomous community (like Andalucía), is the capital of Spain and
the third largest city in the European Union.
Because my budget is small, I took the 5.5 hour bus ride to the city. Cordoba does have a high speed rail system to
Madrid, making the trip only an hour and a half, but if you don’t book your
tickets months in advance the prices are very high. Luckily, my friend Emily was also traveling
to see friends from home, so I had a bus buddy for my trip.
When I
arrived on Thursday night, Katherine met me at the metro station and brought me
home to see her apartment and meet her roommates. She lives in the Atocha area of Madrid, which
is very close to the impressive Retiro Park and other famous monuments. We had a lovely evening of catching up over
Spanish wine and tortilla de patata. We
also took a short metro ride to Puerta del Sol (literally Gate of the Sun)
which is an enormous plaza in the center of the city. Sol is actually the geographical center of
Spain, meaning it is kilometer 0 for the network of all Spanish roads. I got to have a small taste of the big city
at Sol, which felt about a thousand times bigger than anything in Córdoba.
 |
| my lovely tour guide for the weekend |
 |
| a blurry but somewhat representative photo of Sol |
The
next morning, we slept in and then went to retrieve Keely from the metro
station. The three of us planned on
spending the weekend sightseeing and getting to know the big city with
Katherine as our guide, so we got started right away. After a gorgeous walk in Retiro Park at
sunset, we went to see the Museo del Prado, the Spanish national art
museum. It was absolutely fantastic and unlike
anything I’ve ever seen. Even though we
only spent an hour there, I was able to see works by painters like Goya,
Picasso and Velázquez. Seeing Las
Meninas in person was truly an amazing experience!
 |
| Estanque del Retiro |
 |
| Katherine and I in front of El Prado |
 |
| sightseeing amigas |
 |
| Madrid sunset |
After the
Prado, we went on a tapas tour that was going on in the Lavapies district of
the city. The event was hosted by over
fifty different restaurants, who all were offering a 1€ tapa portion (think:
appetizer) of their best dish. We went
to about six different places, which made for a diverse and delicious meal for
only six euros!
 |
| tapas beauties |
 |
| couscous with red peppers |
On
Saturday, we took a trip to a neighboring town called San Lorenzo de El
Escorial. The town’s main attraction is
an enormous monastery palace that dates back to the early 16th century, located
at the foot of Mt. Abantos. When Katherine,
Keely and I got off the train, we realized that we had very little knowledge
about where the palace was actually located.
So, we decided to eat first and explore later, which led us to a
charming hole-in-the-wall café for an amazing lunch, complete with two courses,
wine, and coffee. Delicious!
 |
| waiting for the train |
 |
| the basilica through the forest |
 |
| along the Path of the Princes |
 |
| El Escorial |
After our meal, we asked a few locals which direction to head in and embarked on our walk. Only about ten minutes passed before we could see the impressive basilica looming over the trees in the near distance. El Escorial is enormous, which makes it a site for staggering amounts of artwork. The walls inside are like a museum, although most of the paintings seem similar with plentiful dark Catholic symbolism.
 |
| artwork viewing |
 |
| amazing ceiling |
For
me, the highlight of El Escorial was the Pantheon of the Kings, which is a tomb
located at the bottom of the monastery.
The remains of most of the kings and queens of Spain (Hapsburgs and
Bourbons) reside in the Pantheon, making it an extremely holy site. Visiting the tomb was very amazing, but also
sort of eerie. It’s strange to think
about being in the same physical space as the remains of people from so much of
a country’s history. We finished our
trip watching the sunset in the gardens of the monastery, which was
gorgeous. El Escorial looks over an
immense valley that seems to stretch forever, even though it is only about 45
kilometers outside of bustling Madrid.
 |
| palace courtyard |
 |
| Katherine with the scenery |
 |
| garden |
 |
| cheesing |
 |
| posing with the valley |
 |
| Escorial sunset |
That
evening, we met up with Keely’s friend Melissa, a lovely gal from Portland who
showed us some fantastic tapas restaurants with her Italian boyfriend,
Marco. Melissa has been living in Madrid
for the past few years teaching English at various academies. The five of us spent the evening getting to
know each other over tostas (hot baguettes with various delicious toppings) and
good Spanish wine, which made for a great time.
Our
final day together in Madrid was Halloween, which we spent touring the
impressive Retiro Park. We ate kebabs in
the rose garden, strolled through the grounds around the Crystal Palace, and
basked in the sun at the Estanque del Retiro (Retiro Pond). That evening, we dressed up in our makeshift
costumes for a night on the town.
Halloween is not really a holiday in Spain, and those who celebrate it
seem to miss most of the point. Costumes
for Halloween here are always zombies or vampires, complete with lots of
ghoulish white paint and fake blood.
Spaniards believe that silly costumes are for Feria, which are fairs
that each province has throughout the year.
Therefore, my crude cat costume (fashioned out of a metal mask and some
cardboard) wasn’t really Spain Halloween appropriate, but I decided that I get
to make the rules about holidays celebrated in my country.
 |
| Crystal Palace |
 |
| unimpressed by the statues |
 |
| the estanque |
 |
| from Eugene to Madrid! |
We spent
our evening at Kapital, an iconic Madrid dance club. Its appeal is drawn from the fact that it
boasts seven floors, each with a different type of music. Salsa, hip-hop, soul, funk and Spanish hits
are all readily available if you want to climb the crowded and sweaty stairs to
find them. It was a fun but overwhelming
experience that really made me appreciate the mellow Córdoba way of life. I’ll get to return the tour-guide favor in
December when Katherine comes to visit me!
 |
| catwoman, mime, and vampire |
 |
| happy Halloween! |
